Michael Swan

Winnipeg Catholics endorse Anglican suit over refugee health cuts

June 27, 2012

Christians aiding refugees is nothing new. Christians taking the Canadian government to court so refugees won’t be denied medication, artificial limbs or rehabilitative therapy is. Hospitality House Refugee Ministry in Winnipeg has launched a lawsuit on behalf of the Anglican diocese of Rupert’s Land claiming breach of contract against Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Hospitality House is trying to block government plans to strip down its health insurance plan for refugees. Cuts to the Interim Federal Healthcare Program for refugees take effect June 30.

New wing of the Secular Franciscans encourages youth to rebuild the church

June 26, 2012

Young and Catholic? That's not good enough for the latest Catholic youth group to start up in English-speaking Canada. For YouFra, the youth wing of the Secular Franciscans, you have to want to change the world — starting with yourself. "It's about being with and being together and doing together," said YouFra member Kendal Freeman. The 24-year-old master's student at Antioch University in New Hampshire was attracted to YouFra because she found in St. Francis somebody willing to talk about how the world is and how the world should be.

Finding the story behind the church through photography

June 23, 2012

When Ottawa-based photographer Mark Schacter realized he had amassed a pretty extensive collection of church photographs, he was a bit surprised. Schacter will be spending the next year building on his library of church photos, following in the footsteps of some of the great photographers of our day, from Ansel Adams to James Nachtwey. Schacter is adding more churches, as well as synagogues, mosques, gudwaras and temples, for his Houses of Worship project — a book to be published in 2013. The book of photos and essays will concentrate on architecture inspired by faith in Canada and the United States.

Canadian sisters tight-lipped on U.S. counterparts

June 22, 2012

Sisters, brothers and religious priests across Canada are praying for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, but they’re not talking about the organization that represents about 80 per cent of U.S. nuns. “The LCWR has asked us not to comment at this point,” said Canadian Religious Conference spokesperson Louise Stafford. A number of religious communities across Canada contacted by The Catholic Register also either declined comment or did not return calls.

Humans must be at centre of Rio+20 solution

June 20, 2012

The Catholics in Rio de Janeiro for the Rio+20 Earth Summit aren’t quite sold on classic capitalism, nor are they buying a new green version of the markets-solve-everything ideology. “We have allowed the rules of the marketplace to get out of control and to distort our desires and imaginations,” said a statement from the coalition of the developed world’s Catholic aid organizations, CIDSE, just before the United Nations-sponsored event, which took place June 20-22.

Judge to oversee Moncton conciliation

June 14, 2012

Former Supreme Court Judge Michel Bastarache plans to wrap up a conciliation process with sexual abuse victims in the archdiocese of Moncton within a year. Bastarache has been tapped by Archbishop André Richard to meet with victims of Fr. Camille Léger and award monetary settlements of $15,000 to $300,000. The archdiocese has also been offering counselling to victims through the Beauséjour Family Crisis Centre since April.

Arguments against bill fed resolve to pass it, MPPs say

June 7, 2012

TORONTO - Opponents of Bill-13 lost the debate over gay-straight alliances because they seemed either fearful or contemptuous of the word gay in presentations at committee, said NDP and Liberal legislators during debate at final reading of the Accepting Schools Act. “We know that homophobia is real. The committee hearings proved it is real,” said NDP MP Cheri DiNovo.

Catholic boards’ hands tied by Bill-13

June 6, 2012

TORONTO - Catholic schools will remain welcoming places for all students in full accord with the Accepting Schools Act and Catholic teaching and tradition, said Cardinal Thomas Collins in a statement released June 5 after Bill-13 passed third reading to become law. Passage of the bill means Catholic schools must allow gay-straight alliance clubs if requested by students.

Residential schools are relevant to all Canadians

June 5, 2012

TORONTO - “Canadians from before have done a great disservice to Canadians who are new by not telling the story, the true story of this country,” said Estella Muyinda. Muyinda was born in Uganda. Today she is a lawyer and just as thoroughly Canadian as everybody else in line at Tim Horton’s — and more than some. She’s spent time in Inuvik and Tuktoyuktuk in the Northwest Territories. In travelling the country she has learned about the first of Canada’s three founding nations.

Art is part of the healing for residential school survivors

June 5, 2012

TORONTO - While residential school survivors told their life stories of trying to piece together family life after childhoods spent in an institution, Hilton Henhawk held a brush above canvass. As an artist trained at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto and an elder in his own right, Henhawk was seeking a picture of native culture and identity that transcends the residential school experience without forgetting the harm his people have suffered. "It's got to be representative of the native as a whole," Henhawk told The Catholic Register as he began to paint an ideal chief — a leader who could embody the spirit of his people.